It seems like a common feature in modern games is the New Game +. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, a New Game + is essentially when you start a new game except with most of your stats and items. This by itself is pretty cool. It gives the game some replay value and is convenient for people who want to experience the game again. However, where there's a New Game Plus, there's also usually bullshit.
I'd like to offer Disgaea 2 as an example. Most of the enemies there cap out around level 500 in normal play. So what happens when you throw a level 4000 enemy in there? That's where New Game Plus comes in. Hell, why not add some exclusive NG+ content too?
Herein lies the problem. What if I don't want to play the fucking game all over again? Is being able to accomplish everything on one playthrough too much to ask? Regardless of how much I like a game, it gets old eventually. If it's a game I only liked a bit, then that's even worse. At this point, you have to take other factors into account like the occasional unskippable cutscene. In a worst case scenario, imagine playing Xenosaga all the way through twice without being able to skip the movies. Seeing as you spend more than half of the game watching cutscenes, that wouldn't be too fun.
So what's the lesson to be learned? I should either be able to do it in one shot or not at all.
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3 comments:
Modern games? Hardly. It's been around since Diablo II, possibly earlier (I'm not a heavy gamer). In Diablo II's case you have to play it 3 times. Each time with the same sprites and same level design, just different specs for items and enemies. It gets much harder of course and a lot more challenging, but it's still the same game =P
Let's see. Diablo 2 was released in 2001. When I said modern, I was thinking of post 1995, but point taken.
Only time I remember using New Game+ a lot was Chrono Trigger. It's one of the earlier games to use it I believe. With 10 different endings, it made it easier to play through the game again and see some of the different paths.
As long as you're not missing out on any serious content, I would say it's not too bad putting in special content intended for when you replay the game. An enemy 6x as powerful as normal seems a little ridiculous though.
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